Roger Gough

Saturday 31 January 2015

Swanley Village: progress by stages

A number of Highways projects are being carried out in Swanley Village with support from my Member Highway Fund (now the Combined Member Fund). Progress is being made, albeit on a piecemeal basis.

High-friction surfacing is set to be installed as part of the establishment of gateways at the entry points to the village. It was originally intended that these would be installed before Christmas, but this was deferred until the February half term. It has now been confirmed that this will take place on Monday 16 February, and will involve a very short road closure (lasting about an hour).

Gateway signs were installed before Christmas, but appear not to have been painted. Residents have understandably questioned this; I have duly taken up the issue, and this has produced some head scratching at Kent Highways, since the signs should have been painted in a similar fashion to those seen in other villages. Officers are looking into this and hopefully it should be rectified soon.

Finally, we seem to be close to a point where we can move ahead in securing the village sign. I hope to confirm the precise status of this with officers  next week.

Friday 30 January 2015

KCC moves ahead with LED lighting

Kent County Council plans to invest some £40 m to convert its street lights to LED (light emitting diode) technology, delivering huge cost and energy savings while offering the prospect of restoring full-night lighting in residential areas. This will be the biggest conversion scheme of its kind in the country.

The council has secured low-cost financing and will go out to procurement for delivery of the lighting. Subject to this process being completed satisfactorily, installation could start late this year or in early 2016. The initial focus will be on installation in residential areas.

Installing LED should deliver savings of 60% on KCC's highways lighting bills, enabling full-night lighting to be restored. This is a very welcome development; a number of constituents, especially in Swanley, have been strongly opposed to the part-night lighting that was instituted at the end of 2013. The County Council has argued that it had to deliver both cost and carbon savings. If LED is installed successfully, it should enable savings to be delivered and residents' concerns to be met.

You can find an article on this from the KCC media hub here.